CIPD Employee Outlook Survey: Career Management Matters

With one in three employees stating that their career
progression to date has failed to meet their expectations, the results are a bit
of a wake-up call for employers.

The survey of over 2,500 employees found that more than a
quarter (28%) of them are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the
level of career training and development offered by their current employer.

These findings are a firm endorsement of the importance of
the line manager – employee relationship, and the need for the line manager to
understand, manage and coach each employee as an individual and to appreciate
their specific motivations and drivers.

Why career management matters to employers AND employees #employeeoutlook:

Autumn 2014 CIPD/Halogen Employee Outlook infographic

What can employers do to understand and manage employee career
expectations?

1. Invest in career
development. It can help you to retain key employees and provide a pipeline
of great talent for corporate growth. To do this well, organizations should give managers
the tools and training they need to ensure feedback
and performance conversations are future-oriented and focused on
developing and evolving the skills of employees.

2. Conduct regular
career management discussions. Ensure managers engage employees in regular
discussions — at minimum once per year — about career
development and progression. Again, give managers tools and training
to do this well.

3. Align career
development to business goals. In this way career development supports the
individual employee in growing skills, knowledge and experience in a way that
supports the strategic goals of your organization. It’s win-win!

4. Help employees develop the knowledge, skills and
experience they’ll need for their next job. Yes, their next job. Why? Hopefully, their next
job will be with your organization. By recruiting
and filling roles from within you can increase
employee retention, and maintain valuable corporate
knowledge, intellectual property and memory.

So what do you think of the Employee Outlook results? We see
it this way: if high employee satisfaction and engagement are linked to higher
performance, productivity, retention and business results — then supporting
your employees’ career development and progression makes good business sense.

Employee Outlook: Autumn 2014

Employee Outlook: Autumn 2014

By Melany Gallant

In Melany’s role as Saba’s Content Manager, she gets to work with smart people to share the latest thinking about talent management. In her collaboration with thought leaders inside and outside of Saba, Melany helps craft content that educates and informs. A bonus to her work is that she is always learning new things.

For the Saba blog, Melany writes about a range of topics related to employee engagement and performance, including her own experiences as a people manager.

As an ardent social media advocate, Melany was a co-organizer from 2011-2013 of the Social Capital Conference, a social media “learnathon.” She also co-founded Girl Geek Dinners Ottawa, an offshoot of the London Girl Geek Dinners, started by Sarah Blow. Melany is a dedicated blogger and earned a Coursera certificate in Brand Management.

Melany holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors in English from Carleton University and a diploma from Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology. She is a total book nerd and die-hard fan of all things chocolate.